A charity which supports victims of crime has welcomed a report showing one in five Coventry residents is now affected by some form of criminal activity.

Victim Support West Midlands, which has its Coventry base in New Union Street, in the city centre, says the survey shows an important shift in focus from offenders to the needs of victims, witnesses and the community as a whole.

The charity also believes the actual number of people affected by crime is higher than the figure given in the public perception survey prepared for West Midlands Police Authority.

Area manager Andrew Haxell said: "The headline figure that one in five Coventry people have been victims of crime may be a shock to the general public.

"But this is not surprising to Victim Support West Midlands and needs to be interpreted with care.

"We understand that an experience of crime has an impact on more than the injured party and that victims can also be family, friends and colleagues.

"We understand that in some cases a victim of crime may be unwilling to report the matter to police.

"Therefore, in any survey of people's perception, the numbers of people affected by crime will always be larger than the number of criminal offences committed."

Victim Support has also urged readers of the report to consider the full range of criminal offences when thinking about crime rates in the city.

Mr Haxell said: "When thinking about crime, our first reaction may be to think of the high-profile cases.

"Cases of a serious and horrific nature represent a small proportion of the total crimes committed.

"The report indicates people would like the police to do more about youth crime, vandalism, burglary, car theft and mugging.

"These crimes represent the bulk of crimes committed and are the day-today experience of most people.

"While we welcome the focus on victim and community needs, we would not want people to suffer increased anxiety at this festive time."

Victim Support can be contacted via its national helpline on 0845 30 30 900 or at the Coventry office on 024 7625 6956.